Things to Do

We can’t rely on the weather to play ball, so a gazebo is a great in­vest­ment and will trans­form your out­side space into a use­able ‘room’ – what­ever the weather. It’s handy on hot days, too, as it pro­vides a shel­tered, shady spot.

up­date a small space

Try a clever tiered so­lu­tion on a pa­tio, bal­cony or deck to make the most of ev­ery avail­able inch. Hav­ing plants on shelves or lad­ders also makes them eas­ier to wa­ter and main­tain, which is ideal for peo­ple with bad backs.

cre­ate a veg­gie Patch

Choose a sunny, well-drained spot for your patch and de­cide whether you want rows in the ground or raised beds. Dig over the soil, fork it and rake un­til fine. Plan the lay­out be­fore you sow seeds – ei­ther on pa­per or try quick­crop.co.uk/grow­matic and po­si­tion plants you need to har­vest reg­u­larly some­where ac­ces­si­ble. Visit growveg.co.uk/ guides/how-to-plan-a-veg­etable­gar­den-a-step-by-step-guide for a de­tailed plan to start you off.